November 15, 2013
By Rachel Cerelli
Membership and Chapter Coordinator

Rachel CerelliAs many of you probably know, I have assumed the position of membership and chapter coordinator. It’s a fairly easy transition from my previous role at Landscape Ontario coordinating the certification program.

I look forward to visiting Chapter meetings over the next while.

We are about to begin another season of chapter meetings and winter events, which should prompt many of you to mark your calendars for events like the winter seminars offered by LO, Georgian Lakelands Ski and Spa Day, Chapter MTO meetings, London Chapter’s top landscape design trends with Ron Koudys, and of course Congress in January.

On Oct. 16, I joined Tony DiGiovanni and Phil Charal at the Georgian Lakelands Chapter meeting. They told members all about leadership, the benefits of being a member of Landscape Ontario and Roberts Rules of Order on how to run a successful meeting (www.robertsrules.org).

Apart from all the wonderful things we learned through the teachings from our LO executive director and board president, the true benefit was the networking taking place before and after the meeting.

For example, one of our new members was having an issue registering an employee as an apprentice. By the next day, this member’s employee had been granted a spot and now will join the Arboriculture Apprenticeship class in January 2014.  

Another young member, who has been considering working in design, met three very enthusiastic members who are designers. They gave advice on a path to choose.

Connections were made all over the room. It is a unique opportunity to talk about our industry with other professionals.

This winter season embrace the opportunities to attend at least one of your Chapter meetings. Give it a shot. What can it hurt?

Look at it this way: when you were a kid you looked up to your parents for everything; they knew all the answers. Well, not all of us are lucky enough to have our parents in our business, and even if you do, we all eventually realize our parents don’t actually know all the answers. However, many of your business colleagues may have been around a lot longer, or have learned different on-the-job lessons and can teach you a thing or two.  

Reach out to your chapter, meet other professionals in your industry and start to learn, teach and grow with your fellow Landscape Ontario members.
Contact Rachel at rachel@landscapeontario.com